St. Patrick's Day in London was marked with the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa Mueller - all the way from Millstadt, Illinois. Betty kept referring to their visit as "Ma and Pa Kettle in London." Hardly the case! They were experts at riding the bus and tube in no time! But I get ahead of myself...let's start at the beginning.
After traveling all day, Betty and Roger arrived to The Lodge at nearly midnight on St. Patrick's Day. We said a quick hello and promptly put them to bed warning them of the wake-up call they were sure to receive. At about 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday they were awoken by Jack and Owen crawling into bed with them. Kate, who hasn't figured out how to get out of her bed, just hollered until she was retrieved to join the party going on in the guest room. There was no time for dawdling, however, as this was still a school day and we operate under a tight schedule on school mornings.
As we got the kids dressed I heard the "clip clop" of horses - I looked out of Kate's bedroom window and to my surprise and delight the Kings Artillery chose our street to exercise the horses! I called everyone to the window and we all waved at the horse guards...what a nice way to start our day! At 8:05 a.m. we walked the boys to school - they looked very smart in their uniforms and properly introduced Grandma and Grandpa to their teachers. We took Kate home and spent the morning playing with her. After Nilda arrived Grandma, Grandpa and I took a bus tour on the Big Bus. Two and a half hours later we had seen all of the highlights of London and learned a bit of history. We took the tube to London Bridge and walked over to John's office. We enjoyed a quick drink at the "Walrus" (a local pub for Getco) and then headed home for the evening.
Wednesday the boys only had a half day before the end of term break. So we picked them up from school and went to a local favorite, Pizza Express, for a celebratory lunch. The boys determined we should "take it easy" before our busy days ahead...so an afternoon at home playing games and doing puzzles was perfect.
Thursday after John set out for a day at the office, the rest of us headed to the tube for our journey to the London Eye. We enjoyed the first flight of the day and despite the cloudy weather took in beautiful views of London along the River Thames.
We stopped for a quick lunch at McDonald's - a special treat for the kids as we have only been to the London version of the Golden Arches once in our 10 weeks here. Next we enjoyed a boat tour along the Thames, again learning some interesting facts about our new city. The boys and Kate decided ice cream was in order. Nevermind that it was about 40 degrees and raining! We had to run for cover due to a sleet storm that popped up. So, with ice cream cones as big as their heads, the kids, Grandma, Grandpa and I took shelter in the ticket area for the Eye. Thanks to Kate, a few unsuspecting tourists ended up with ice cream smeared across the legs of their pants!
Once the rain subsided a bit we ventured out. Kate was ready for a nap but Jack was requesting a stop at Westminster Abbey...so off he and Owen went with Grandpa and Grandpa. They were impressed with the size of the building but didn't quite appreciate seeing the tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I. Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed the Poet's Corner.
Thursday night John and I had a treat - Sean Castette and Eric Long were in town working from the London office so we had a really nice dinner out at a local Thai place. Many laughs, glasses of wine and great pad thai made for a wonderful evening.
Friday was the biggest adventure of all - with a trip planned to go out to Legoland Windsor!
We took a taxi to Waterloo station due to the early overground train departure. Our train to Windsor left at 9 a.m. so we were in Windsor at 10 a.m. We took the shuttle bus over to the park and had our tickets already so walked right in. Once we got a map in hand it was time to figure out our plan of attack. We immediately hit some of the rides - John, Grandpa, Jack and Owen went to the Fire Academy first - driving a fire engine and pumping water towards a "burning" building. Next up was a balloon ride so Kate could get on a ride. Then we divided and conquered...Jack to Boating School and Owen to Driving School. Meanwhile Kate was spiraling into an unconsolable tantrum. A quick lunch and she and I headed for the train home.
Grandma, Grandpa, Dad and the boys carried on and really enjoyed seeing Lego City and the Mini City - miniature versions of London, Edinburgh and Paris all created from Legos! They spent the afternoon on many rides and explored all of the different areas of Legoland. They decided to head home around 3:15 p.m. The trip home was like something out of "Planes Trains and Automobiles." Apparently there was a tree down over the railroad tracks. This led to delayed trains, cancelled trains, shuttle buses, diversion buses, taxis and two very tired boys. They finally arrived home around 7:00 p.m. As John fetched cold beers for himself and Grandpa, he declared we would get a car. A quick dinner of pizza, chicken nuggets and chips and we settled in for Easter Weekend.
Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to a lot of quality time with Grandma and Grandpa - no adventures! Not that we would have done anything outdoors anyway as London, where it "never" snows, was having a snow storm all weekend! Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa brought all sorts of beautiful Easter decorations and activities. The boys helped Grandma assemble an Easter Egg tree and paper Easter Eggs that were "magically" strung up around the house by the Easter Bunny. The kids played games and did puzzles with Grandma and Grandpa and drew pictures too. Grandma and Grandpa were eager to send me and John out of the house to maximize their grandchildren time. On Saturday night we went out for dinner and a movie. On Sunday we walked into town to find a fuse...yes, that's right a fuse. That is another story for another entry. I'll summarize by saying that when Kate and I arrived home from Legoland we discovered Nilda hanging wet laundry all over the radiators...yes, the dryer broke again! But more on that later.
On Monday John, Grandma and Grandpa and the boys headed out to the Science Museum. We have learned that Kate is just a bit young for some of the planned outings and is often more work than it is worth. So, she and I stayed home and played, did laundry (hanging wet clothes on the heaters again) and cleaned up a bit.
At the Science Museum, the group enjoyed seeing "Puffing Billy", the Wright Brothers airplane, space ships and the planets, a model of the human brain and other exhibits. Only after about 90 minutes the boys were tired and wanted to go home so John returned with them for lunch. Meanwhile Grandma and Grandpa took a peaceful walk through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens over to Kensington Palace. They made it home safely - all by themselves on the tube! We are confident that on their next visit they can spend several days exploring our new city as there is so much to see and do here. With Oyster cards in hand they have no limits!
Grandma and Grandpa left us this morning. Naturally, the sun has come out and the temperature has risen about 15 degrees. London does not exactly give Grandma the warm weather and beach she enjoys so much. But, what London lacks in tropical weather it makes up for with history and charm. We hope on their next visit we don't get another uncharacteristic weather pattern!
Despite the weather, we had a wonderful visit and look forward to their return in the fall.
Cheers to all!!
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